I'm just a tad bit worried

JenRose05

This has been bothering me for quite some time but I havent spoken to Chris about it until tonight and I guess getting it out in the open has me even more worried, Im having a bit of a struggle and I am needing a few answers....

Ben isnt making any consonants with his noises , not to say hes a quiet baby but his noises usually are screeching and raspberries, The only thing   ever imitated was raspberries...everytime we do consonant noises like ba, ma, da, ne, no, be, etc he just looks at us like we are stupid and goes on his merry way... I talk to several people who say their baby has been making these noises since 5 months and on... now I know all babies are different but I feel like Ben is very delayed in this area and Im a big believer in parental instinct and at the point of calling his doctor tomorrow but I want to make sure that Im not overreacting... can you tell me when your baby started babbling with consonants and how often he/she does it, when they started imitating you? He doesnt even try to copy Chris or I, just stares at us or laughs at us... I always hope he will just do it when hes playing by himself but nothing....

teacherjess

Hmm, I might call if you are worried. It's better to be safe than sorry. I read in the baby book that babies should do this after 5 months or so, but Leah is almost 6 months and does the same as Ben-- screeching and raspberries only! So I really am not sure. Hope you get some better, more helpful responses!

pinkylu

I was actually worried about this with Adah for awhile, too, but she is babbling all over the place now.  She would go through phases where she would say ba, ma, or da a lot, but then she would revert back to growling and grunting a lot.  I would say in the last month and a half is when she really started to use consonants all the time.  We still do this thing where she will grunt and then I will repeat it back to her and so on. 

If you really are worried, I don't see that there is anything wrong with calling.  At his age, however, I'm not sure what they could even do.  Since I know you IRL, I know that you talk to him a lot and he gets plenty of interaction and communication.  My guess is that he is just shy with talking and will come around soon.  But like I said, if it will alieve your worries, go ahead and call.

cat81305

If you are worried then you can call the doctor but maybe I can help you feel better.  I am a speech therapist and it is still normal that he is doing that.  Babies develop at different stages of course and some babies will say these sounds early and others later.  I would not be concerned yet b/c he is making different sounds.  I would be worried if he got to 9 months wihtout saying any consonants but then it still won't be a big enough delay to do anything with.  Your DS will not imitate you yet either.  Our DS is just now starting to try to imitate us with facial expressions and only with the syllables he does have, not ones he hasn't said before and this is totally normal.  If you want some suggestions on things to do (I am sure you are doing lots of things that help already) or just have questions, feel free to email me at cmeredith813 at yahoo dot com.  I work with children 0-3yrs.

bgsugrad

I don't know how much help I am since yes, all children develop at different stages, but I kinda don't remember my DD making consonant sounds at 6 months.  She always made babbling noises, and high pitched screeches but it wasn't until the last month or so that she started with ma, da, ga and within the last 2 weeks has really started to imitate us - she is almost 9 months.  I do agree with Cat that I would be more worried if you get to 8/9 months and you still notice the same behavior.  However, I am a firm believer in talking to your pedi if you just don't feel right about something - no concern is a stupid one!

adamsbabble

I may be misrembering (am I making up a word here?) but I don't think Ava was making many consonant sounds at 5-6 months.  Also my nephew is 5 mos. right now and doesn't do anything other than babbling noises and screeching, and a close friend of mine has a baby Ben's age who wasn't doing anything more than babbling the last time I saw him (about a month ago).  If Ava, my nephew or my friend's baby were/are delayed in this area, they are on track in plenty of other areas.   Also, Ava's first consonant sound was "mmm... mum mum mum" and then she quickly moved on to dada, but for the life of me I just can't remember she started doing this.  I would guess after 6 months though.  She is fine and is saying plenty of words now at 14 mos.

tinytot_924

Kate just started babbling within the last week or so.  She was doing the raspberries and the screaching and screaming before.  She doesn't babble much, but she is saying bababababa.  She is also making sounds like oh and hi (or at least that's what it sounds like).  I do plan on discussing it with her pedi at her appointment next month especially if she isn't more consistent with the babbling. 

jgeiman

Ditto your post re: parental instinct.

If you think there might be something wrong, then call the pedi. Either you'll get it diagnosed sooner, or he'll tell you YS is fine and put your mind at ease.

FYI - DH didn't speak words until he was three-years-old. Just grunted. Then they say he suddenly started speaking entire sentences.
Just one example of a baby who was way behind in speech development, but turned out just fine.

Good luck. And keep us posted.

Megs&Nick

One of the triplets, Cameron, didn't really babble at all.  He would just grunt, blow rasberries or screech.  He may have used an occasional nanana sound but that was about it  I talked to SIL last night and she said that he has become the most vocal one now at 14 months.  He says about 5-10 full words that are recognizable.  It's like the light just came on for him or he didn't want to try until he had it mastered.

It can't hurt to talk to your pedi about it if you're concerned but I think Ben is probably doing just fine!

JenRose05

Thank you so much girls Im a little less worried after getting advice and personal stories on this board and another I frequent... I have to make an appt with the doc for a follow up flu shot and I'll just mention it to her, I dont expect her to be able to do anything until he is several months older but it would make me feel better if she knew I was a little worried about it and kept an eye on it over the next several months... again thank you for all of your help!